Ed Miliband has been warned that his net zero crusade could put the UK at risk of blackouts after energy demands came close to exceeding supply.
The National Energy System Operator (NESO), which manages Britain’s gas and electricity supply, issued an alert earlier this month after a shortfall in power.
The Energy Secretary rubbished claims that the UK was about to run out of electricity as “nonsense”.
But Richard Tice, Reform UK’s deputy leader, warned of a danger of energy rationing or blackouts at periods of low wind.
It comes as Mr Miliband plans to close traditional coal-fired power stations in favour of greener energy sources, such as wind.
There are fears that the UK’s transition to net zero could put the energy network at risk (Image: Getty)
With two nuclear power stations also due to close in the coming years, many fear Britain’s energy supply could become too dependent on the weather.
Mr Tice, who is also Reform’s energy spokesman, claimed “we are not being told the truth” about Mr Miliband’s target to reach net zero – where UK’s greenhouse gas emissions equal the amount removed from the atmosphere – by 2050.
Mr Tice told The Telegraph: “Our energy is becoming more expensive and less secure.
“The drive to net zero is dramatically increasing prices due to the need to have back-up gas and nuclear supply for when renewables are not generating enough electricity.
“It also increases the risk of rationing or even blackouts at times of low wind.”
NESO was forced to turn on extra generators to ensure the UK could maintain its power supply on January 8.
Falling wind speeds and outages on three interconnectors and at some gas-fired power stations meant generating capacity was down at the very time demand was greater because of freezing winter temperatures.
Ed Miliband has put renewables at the heart of his energy plans (Image: Getty)
Mr Miliband was later grilled by a parliamentary select committee about the incident.
He said: “There’s been quite a lot of nonsense talked about this. Neso has said that at no point were electricity supplies less than anticipated demand.”
But Kathryn Porter, an energy analyst and expert on grid dynamics, said: “Jan 8 was the tightest day for electricity supplies in over 15 years.
“Market data indicate we came within the loss of one power station of demand control or even blackouts.
“Unfortunately, Neso continues to refuse to be transparent about which generating assets or batteries were available to run that day to provide spare margin and reserves.
“This is disappointing and undermines confidence in their assertions, which are not supported by underlying market data.”
Analysts believe the main threat to Britain’s power infrastructure will come between 2027 and 2029, due to gaps between the closure of traditional power sources and the opening of new ones.
Reform MP Richard Tice has expressed his concern over the vulnerability of Britain’s energy network (Image: Getty)
NESO’s 10-year plan discusses “growing system needs”.
Its plans say: “If a sudden or short-duration electricity shortfall affected a specific region, or the whole country, we would implement the demand control process as set out in the Grid Code … allowing us to instruct distribution network operators to reduce up to 20% of demand at short-notice (five minutes) with an additional 20% made available at one days’ notice.”
A Department for Energy and Net Zero spokesman said: “It is categorically untrue that our electricity or gas supplies have been at risk this winter.
“We have no concerns and are confident we will have a sufficient gas supply and electricity capacity to meet demand.”
